The individual rail lines of a high-speed magnetic train consist of individual supports of steel or concrete which are lined up with each other and can extend on the level ground or on girders.
Flexible steel switches consisting of continuous steel supports are used to reroute a car from one rail line or track to the other, and these can be resiliently bent and aligned with each other with the aid of an electro-magnetic actuating drive for the connection of the tracks or the junction.
For space-saving reasons the distance between the individual rail lines is selected to be such that it is less than twice the clear space profile of the cars floating along the rail.
Because of this, it is necessary for the rail lines to be guided away from each other, i.e the dual-track rail line undergoes a widening, in the area of the junction. Such a widening has the disadvantage, for example, that the speed of a car needs to be reduced and/or there are greater space requirements for the junction. A more elaborate line layout is also required.
A wheel-rail system for cars with pneumatic-tired wheels is known from German Patent Publication DE 23 04 958 B2, wherein sections of rail are embodied to be pivotable in the area of a switch. For this reason it is absolutely necessary for the rails to have gaps in the transition area.
Conventional tongue devices which are not designed for magnetic levitation trains are described in British Patent Publication GB 1 378 116 and German Patent Publication DE 7 035 954.
Switches which, in accordance with German Patent Publication DE 1 739 034 and with a publication by Kindmann, R., Schwindt, G.: "Stahlbiegeweiche mir hydraulischem Antrieb fur die Transrapid Versuchsanlage Emsland" [Flexible Steel Switch with Hydraulic Actuation for the Emsland Transrapid Test] published in Bauingenieur [Civil Engineer] 63, 1988, pp. 551 to 556, FIGS. 1 and 2, are intended for monorail trains. They employ bendable or flexible supports in the transition area.